Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google said the URL changes you made a year ago to your site is not the reason your rankings are horrible today. Google does not index parts of a page, with the exception of embedded elements on the page. Google said links from or to small sites is fine. Google Ads performance planner added a bunch of new features and Google Merchant Center added a new visibility report. Google has a cute easter egg for Chanukah, or should I say donut egg?
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google: URL Changes From A Year Ago Not The Reason For Your SEO Decline
Google's John Mueller responded to an SEO asking if he should undo the URL site migration changes made a year ago to restore the traffic the blog had previously. In which John Mueller said that his guess is the "traffic change is unrelated" to the URL changes they made a year ago. - Google Doesn't Index Parts Of A Page Separately Unless It's Embedded Content
Google's John Mueller said again that Google does not index parts of a page - like the header versus the footer versus the main area of the content. Google indexes it all and does not index a piece or part of it. But there is one exception, embedded content on the page, like images, JavaScript embeds and so on. - Google: Links To Or From Small Or New Sites Is Fine
Google's John Mueller gave his blessing to the links on or from new and small sites. John said that getting links from small or new sites is fine and doesn't cause SEO problems. He also said that linking outwards to small or new sites is also fine. - Google Ads Performance Planner Gains Ineligible Campaigns, Suggested Changes, Secondary Metrics & Time Ranges
Google Ads has updated the performance planner to add some new features it says will help you better understand Performance Planner's bid and budget recommendations. These updates include the ability to add ineligible campaigns, a suggested changes row, secondary metrics and more time range controls. - New Google Merchant Center Competitive Visibility Report
Google Merchant Center seems to be rolling out a new report named the competitive visibility report. The competitive visibility report helps you understand your competitive landscape on product category level and take action to improve your visibility - based on displayed impressions from your Shopping ads and free listings. - Google Chanukah Donuts Easter Egg On Pagination Bar
If you search for Hanukkah, Chanukah, Menorah and other related searches, you will not only see the annual Google Chanukah decorations but you may also see the pagination tool at the bottom of the search results turn into donuts. - Googlebot & Crawley Crochet Fan Art
Lizzi Harvey from the Google team likes to crochet and she did a lot of it since Google launched its new mascot, recently named Crawley. Check out all these Googlebots and Crawleys (ies) she made. I
Other Great Search Threads:
- That was more of a theoretical episode :). I'd frame what we currently have as more than just a tie-breaker, but it's not a make-or-breaker. I don't know if that helps, sorry :), John Mueller on Twitter
- Was I hit with a duplicate content penalty and how long to recover?, Reddit
- Due to COVID, we decided to postpone the event at Google! đź“… We'll keep you informed when we have a new date. https://t.co/bYeuVUJ4sp Our suggestions for remote SEO awesomeness, SEOnerdSwitzerland on Twitter
- How to remove content from Google, Google Search Central Community
- It's a canonicalization signal, it's not a link. Just use a redirect where it makes sense, there's no magic SEO agenda / algorithm / bonus behind it :)., John Mueller on Twitter
- Nah, they're unrelated. Desktop computers aren't going anywhere though (too heavy to carry around too)., John Mueller on Twitter
- We usually pass these on to the team to review if our systems are working as intended -- we can't make any promises about indexing, and unless there's an obvious issue for you to address, we wouldn't have spec, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google Performance Planner adds support for ineligible campaigns, secondary metrics, “Suggested changes” and specific time ranges
- Google Merchant Center now shows relative visibility, page overlap rate and higher position rate metrics
- YouTube’s experimental tool for creators simplifies keyword research and identifies content gaps
- Google November 2021 core update is finished rolling out
- 60,000 websites using Cloudflare turned on IndexNow
- 5 steps to automate your SEO processes using simple programming tactics
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Everything You Need To Know About UTM Campaign Tagging, Tinuiti
- The Complete Guide on Google Analytics 4 Segments, Online Metrics
- What is Google Analytics 4, and Why Should You Implement it ASAP? [Updated], Tinuiti
- Why Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Valuable to Marketers, ClickInsight
Industry & Business
- Google signs deal to buy power from Orsted's German offshore wind farm, Reuters
- Judge orders Google to hand over anti-union strategy documents, Los Angeles Times
- Google to ban political advertising ahead of Philippine election, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
- Link Building Strategies, Semrush
- Why content bundling is the secret sauce for creators, Google Blog
- 4 Business Storytelling Examples That Break the Problem-Solution Mold, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Local Search Ranking Factors 2021: What's New?, Near Media
Mobile & Voice
- Google Play apps downloaded 300,000 times stole bank credentials, Ars Technica
- Personalize user journeys by Pushing Dynamic Shortcuts to Assistant, Google Developers Blog
SEO
- 2021 Local Search Ranking Factors - How to Rank in Google's Local Results, Whitespark
- 2021 State of SEO Webinar: Your Questions Answered, BrightEdge
- Check your SEO with our scoring matrix, SearchLab Digital
- How to find 404 errors on your website — and what to do with them, Deepcrawl
- Search intent: a guide to implement it in your SEO strategy, Oncrawl
- Using Regex (Regular Expressions) in Digital Marketing, Codefixer
- What are Orphan Pages and How Do They Impact SEO, Conductor
- What is Keyword Search Intent, BrightEdge
- Topical Authority Research - A Semantic SEO Strategy, RankRanger
PPC
- Save time by importing campaigns from Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising
- The Top 25 Most Influential PPC Experts in 2021, PPC Hero
Search Features
- More accessible web images arrive in 10 new languages, Google Blog
- MURAL: Multimodal, Multi-task Retrieval Across Languages, Google AI Blog
Other Search
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